


Cooking and all else between

by Sky_Cloudtide



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Prince Yuki confirmed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 21:58:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20749409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sky_Cloudtide/pseuds/Sky_Cloudtide
Summary: Tohru and Yuki spend the evening cooking.Well- attempted cooking, Yuki is a domestic disaster after all.





	Cooking and all else between

**Author's Note:**

> this was just for fun :)

Cooking and all else between

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“Miss Honda?” 

Tohru was busily preparing her curry for the Sohmas. She was letting the pot simmer and sprinkled the last herbs inside like confetti. Every meal was a blessing and Tohru felt humbled to be sharing another one with the friends who had become family. This particular curry had been one of her father’s recipes but her mum had taught her to prepare the dish.

"_A little more curry sauce, Tohru. I need my food sweeter than the way he makes it!” _

Her mother rarely spoke about Katsuya Honda. But when those special moments came up, younger Tohru could imagine the image of her father’s shrine coming to life. And somewhere in time, they could be a happy family. It saddened her however; her mum would speak about her father as if he was still alive.

Tohru had learnt from a young age that life that did not work out as one planned.

The kitchen was warm and homely at Shigure’s house and Tohru intuitively knew her mother was with her while she cooked, a hobby she truly loved.

“Miss Honda?” 

“Ah, yes!” Tohru snapped out of her daydream and saluted with the ladle in her hand. Some of the marinating curry vacated the pot and flung against the walls and kitchen surfaces. Tohru mentally reminded herself she was being a klutz again. She would fight to stay vigilant, like Kyo said she should!

“Are you alright, Miss Honda?” Tohru pivoted on her feet and located the source of the sound. Yuki was standing by the doorway and luckily he hadn’t been covered with curry decoration. His hair was wet from recently having a shower and he clutched a wrapped-up bag in his hand. Tohru then remembered- he had gone to their secret base to collect herbs for the curry!

Tohru shivered when she thought about the secret base.  _ Their  _ secret base. Somewhere that was very dear to Yuki. And he had been thoughtful and trusting enough to share it with her. A day didn’t pass by when Tohru didn’t count her blessings.

And the pieces slowly clicked together in her mind… Yuki had travelled to their secret base to collect their treasure… he was standing in the kitchen… expectant…

“Yuki, you’re cooking!” Tohru yelped, holding the ladle firmly in two hands this time, “and I’ve made such a mess, let me clean this up right away and I said I would show you how I garnish, it’s the way I do it, I’m not a professional so I probably won’t do it right-

“The stove!” And Tohru lowered the heating on the stove, allowing its bellyful to simmer contentedly, a profound contrast to its creator.

* * *

Miss Honda was moving with a damp cloth and disinfectant faster than Kagura stormed into the house to dote on Kyo (while beating him to a pulp). Yuki closed his eyes with a knowing smile and stepped into the kitchen. Her base.  _ Their  _ secret base.

“I can’t even cook a meal without ruining the kitchen, what would Hana-chan and Uo-chan say?” she fretted. She had scrubbed the walls so they looked like new. She was currently preparing the mop and bucket. There were a couple of minute drops of curry on the floor. Enough to justify getting the full cleaning apparatus out?

Probably not.

Yuki wouldn’t deny the fact that a slob he was when it came to housework. Whenever he had to complete chores when it was just him and Shigure in the house, he never made an effort. His goals slipped away into tardiness. With his academia, he was rigorous and punctual but as soon as the activity required physical effort without any benefit (unlike exercise), he opted not to complete the fruitless endeavour.

The house would become full of trash again in moments. That’s what happened when one lived with Shigure.

But since Miss Honda had entered his life, his thoughts were beginning to change.

A lot of his thoughts were beginning to change.

Like how if he had seen a girl crying, he would have wondered for a moment what could have caused the sudden burst of emotion before drifting back into his void of indifference. It didn’t bother him. It wasn’t that he lacked empathy, but he had had no reason to express it. 

Yuki  _ had  _ changed however. He strode towards Miss Honda and stopped several feet before she could risk bumping into him and… the usual would happen.

But as he paused and reached to hold Miss Honda by the shoulders, preventing her from bustling out of his hold, he felt a bridge unfold between Miss Honda and himself. It was a chasm of everything that was said, everything that was not said and everything in-between. The movement was gentle and if she resisted, he would let go at once.

“Your friends would be proud of how hard you work,” Miss Honda flinched, gaze lifting to his, eyes confused and full of surprise, “as would your mother, Miss Honda.”

“That is so kind of you to say, Yuki, thank you. I know Mum would have loved to have met you too,” Miss Honda rubbed the mop affectionately, “oh, I’m sorry. I’ve made such a mess.”

“It can be fixed. Let’s garnish and eat together first,” Yuki smiled, the rarity reserved for few, “plus, you know it’s the stupid cat’s turn to wash up and clean the kitchen tonight.”

“I know; I won’t break my promise to share the household chores, but this is my mess, not everyone’s-”

“Here,” Yuki took hold of the mop and wiped the splattered curry stains in one sweeping motion. He placed the cloth in Miss Honda’s palms, “you wipe over the kitchen surface quickly and we’ll get started on the garnish preparations together. How does that sound?”

“It sounds wonderful,” and Miss Honda beamed at him. In that moment, the bridge collapsed, foundations built on pain and misfortune crumbling to the ground. And Yuki was no longer alone on that distant shore.

The secret between a true smile and a fake one was he didn’t realise he was pulling the former.

* * *

“Yuki?”

“Mmmm?”

"I wanted to ask you something about your parents, is that ok?” Miss Honda spoke with her usual caution and etiquette. The question had been subtly raised before but this was the first time that she had asked him directly.

“Oh yes,” Yuki was surprised by the question, “of course, you understand that there are some things I cannot disclose.”

“Yes! Thank you,” Miss Honda paused in her work, “well, I was thinking. You’re not a bad cook, Yuki. You don’t have as much practice, if you don’t mind my saying so! I practiced with my mother though. I was wondering if you did something similar with your parents?”

The simplicity of her question made him consider his hands. In truth, there was nothing special about them. He had no particular practical talent. All he remembered of his parents and his hands was when his mother dragged him to Akito and when he would catch the flecks of blood that escaped through his lips when he coughed-

“No, I did not cook with my parents. They were too...busy all things considered,” Yuki smiled strangely. He wasn’t lying.

“That’s a shame,” Miss Honda pondered, a knife waving ominously in her hands, which was being used to chop parsley from the vegetable patch.

“I’m not missing out though,” Yuki said in a light-hearted tone, “I get to practice with you.”

“The honour is all mine!” Miss Honda bowed and her eyes glanced at the lemon he was squeezing into juice, “wow, Yuki! You’re doing that really well, you could become an expert one day.”

Anyone else would have sounded sarcastic saying that. But never her.

The bitterness of the lemon juice made his eyes water. He blinked several times before finishing what he had started.

* * *

“I’m not eating that! Not if it was tainted by the damn rat’s touch,” Kyo scoffed, pushing the bowl away from him.

“Yuki put in a lot of work to this! This meal is very special, Kyo, I hope you enjoy it,” Miss Honda beamed at Yuki while Kyo muttered under his breath.

“You designed the recipe yourself, Miss Honda,” Yuki interrupted, the snap of his chopsticks breaking through the silence of the dinner table, not in the mood to pander to the cat.

“Why do I have to eat it? Where is that damn dog?” Yuki’s nemesis continued protesting, waving arms around in complaint.

“Oh, Shigure said he wouldn’t be back until late- he had to go on a late evening walk for novel inspiration! He does such important work,” Miss Honda made that pervert look like a saint. But as annoying as Shigure was, Kyo’s presence made Yuki’s skin itch in frustration. Despite having lived under the same roof for months now, Yuki’s desire to kick Kyo out of his life was only stronger than ever.

“He weaseled his way out of this. Not fair!” Kyo sulked and Yuki sighed, releasing the breath he didn’t realise he had been holding. He excused himself from the table, collecting the pot of lemon juice and stormed towards Kyo. Yuki’s face was expressionless as he grabbed the stupid cat’s nose and yanked his head up and poured the pot’s contents down his throat.

“Ah! What was that for? You damn rat! I’m gonna kill you, ya hear me?” Kyo choked and wretched, shaking his pathetic head from side to side. As if that was going to help.

“Appreciate the food. Or there will be more of that where you came from,” Yuki’s voice was ice. He returned to his seat and turned to Miss Honda, “thank you for letting me help you prepare the meal.”

But unlike Miss Honda, she had not become panicked from Kyo’s outburst. And she did not reply to him. Instead, she was glancing towards the floor, face expressionless.

“It wasn’t my recipe…” Miss Honda whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. 

“Miss Honda?” Yuki asked, concern causing him to shuffle forward towards her.

“Huh?” the stupid cat got that stupid expression on his face, finally registering the sitution. Yuki truly despised him. The only option was to ignore him.

“The recipe… it belonged to my parents. I took and used it without permission,” Miss Honda broke out in tears. She tried taking several calm breaths but to no avail. She rubbed her eyes hurriedly but it was too late to disguise the fact that she was upset.

“I’m so sorry so sorry,” she trembled, shaking like the leaves of autumn, “I’m just being silly. That’s right. I’m ok.”

“You look pretty damn upset,” Kyo commented. If Yuki had bothered to look up at him, he would have seen that the cat looked awkward. He obviously assumed saying something-  _ anything _ \- was better than being a wallflower.

“The original recipe belonged to your parents, didn’t it,” Yuki asked. Miss Honda nodded while sniffling. He fetched her some tissues before resting beside her, just out of touching distance, “but each meal is unique and individual. You added your own touches to it. The inspiration came from them, but this curry was created by you.”

“I’m sorry, I can be selfish at times,” Miss Honda hiccuped, “you made this curry too. I wish they could be here to enjoy it too. Mum would have been so happy if she met you and Kyo and Shigure…”

Kyo made up some lame excuse and retreated to the bathroom. Or probably the roof. He wasn't good with the 'soppy' stuff. 

Finally, some peace and quiet.

“You’re not selfish at all, princess,” Yuki clutched the ribbon she wore in her hair. He remembered moonlight and laughter from that night. 

_ Everything you touch is light, everything you touch is warmth.  _

Miss Honda’s tears stopped. Her face turned red as she waved her arms about, flustered. But no matter how much she denied it, Yuki knew it was true.

“Thank you for the food,” Yuki started.

“Thank you for the food,” Miss Honda finished.

When Yuki took his first bite, flavour and spice filled his senses. The monochrome world he resided in bled with a little bit more colour. It wouldn’t be long before he would see the world of light once again. And when- not  _ if _ \- that day came, he wanted Miss Honda by his side.

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“How about we go and visit them this weekend?” Yuki asked as he passed her the seasoning. She glanced at him and nodded enthusiastically.

_ So warm. Your smile is so warm. _

“Who is this mystery person? Do share!” Shigure, who had stepped through the doors halfway through the meal, wondered, sticking his nose into their business.

“Well-” Miss Honda began.

“Someone special,” Yuki closed his eyes and spoke no more on the matter.

* * *

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End file.
